Hotel Management industry reports that Alibaba would provide facial recognition for biometric check-ins for in-country travelers at two Marriott International hotels in China.
Alibaba's travel service platform, Fliggy, is scheduled for July, with a global rollout to follow.
According to Marriott, traditional hotel check-ins take three minutes, even if there is no line. The self-check-in procedure, which consists of an ID document scan, personal information entry, and face recognition verification, is completed in less than one minute.
A futuristic hotel has been launched by Alibaba in China
In Hangzhou, Alibaba Group has also presented a "future" or "Flyzoo" hotel. As a receptionist, a 1-meter robot with facial recognition capability serves.
Alibaba has presented a futuristic hotel in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, which it calls the hotel of the future. The 290-room hotel, which has been open to the public since December 2018, is named FlyZoo, a spin on the Chinese phrase "it's a must to stay here." Guests may book in and open their hotel rooms using facial recognition technology; the television, lighting, and room curtains are voice-controlled; and robots serve room service orders placed using Tmall Genie smart speakers. Alibaba believes that the suite of high-tech capabilities will significantly reduce labor costs and the requirement for visitors to communicate with others.
In a similar vein, Tencent has formed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, which, according to a separate article published by Hotel Management, will implement artificial intelligence technologies and advanced social network and payment tools for the convenience and personalization of guests.
The corporation manages more than one hundred hotels and resorts worldwide.
This is an opportunity for Tencent to test its smart hotel technology in an operating setting.
According to the Australian edition of Hotel Management, Movenpick plans to roll out 400 smart hotels in China that use facial recognition for check-ins and room access. The launch is made possible via a collaboration with Sunmei Digital Intelligence Group.
The usage of facial recognition at China's hotels is already popular, with Marriott and Days Inn utilizing it in their lobbies, according to prior reports.
In other regions, biometric technology is increasingly being implemented in hospitality situations.
Incode was selected in May by Emirates-based Jumeirah Group to deliver automated services with biometrics, for example, and has been forming partnerships with hospitality technology suppliers.
Reference: Biometric Update